Campbeltowning

Once the nice gale had blown through (oh boy, were we pleased that we were not on the exposed bit of the pontoon having watched a yacht in real trouble there) we refitted the bimini cover so the boat looked more normal again:

She also had her first decent wash off since Whitehaven - much needed as the recent rainy weather had deposited all sorts of grot and grime on what was nice clean and shiny GRP. That amused us for most of a morning.

After the obligatory shopping trip (cannot carry too much back each trip as we haven't bothered to get the folding bikes out and the captain still steadfastly refuses to be seen with a trolley shopper despite his advanced age) we had a wander around the loch. Here is Davaar island seen from the northern loch shore.  It must be the end of the season as you can see the purple heather on the hills:

The vista around the loch gives you an idea of how the area looks - there are many bigger hills but a panorama shot can only go so far:

The town itself continues to look sad with the usual quota of closed or should be closed shops. The high spots are the Tesco Metro and the big Co-op. We didn't try out any of the restaurant / coffee places as outdoor seating in a gale and driving rain is not ideal and indoor is still not tempting us. However out of town there are magnificent houses, the lovely loch and the welcome from Callum the moorings man is always excellent.

We enjoyed watching the local wildlife. This time not all two legged. As usual the resident seals like the return of the fishing boats when they get a free feed. Some young guillemots and razorbills were stunning to watch as they dived, swam underwater and feasted on a big shoal of little herrings, known as sild. No pictures from us, sorry. We just enjoyed the spectacle. Almost as much as the birds enjoyed the feeding frenzy we guess. However, some nice folks on the yacht next to us had an underwater camera. Look at you tube video link  around 5:45 minutes in.

When the wind abated we had the tough decision of where next. Should we go further north and enjoy the area a little risking getting locked down in a second Covid wave? Should we scuttle as fast as we could back to Penarth and impose our own early version of lockdown? Somehow as it still was not the end of August and we hadn't headed off until late in July, staying out a bit longer won.